family. >> a couple thousand means a couple of months rent for this family. >> reporter: president obama said that he supports keeping the bush era tax cuts for the middle class in place but ending them on incomes over $250,000 if there is no deal by new year's, everyone pays more. >> if this family has a couple of thousand left to spend, that translates into $200 billion of what consumer spending next year and that is bad for businesses, large and small. >> reporter: they won't support tax hikes but will support raising revenues by limiting tax deductions, closing loopholes and cutting spending. >> i think it's safe to say at that point that the president is not interested in a balanced agreement. he's not particularly interested in avoiding the fiscal cliff and he's not interested at all in cutsing any spending. >> reporter: democrats say with so much at stake from defense jobs to unemployment benefits and higher taxes on all households, republicans are simply stalling what needs to be done. >> it's apparent how this will end. the only question is when will it end? you know, it's how l